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-   -   What's the difference between rosewood and indian rosewood? (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135053)

brianwong 09-07-2008 09:01 PM

What's the difference between rosewood and indian rosewood?
 
Hi Everyone,

What's the answer to the above question tonally and aesthetically? I realised that the more expensive guitars uses Indian rosewood compared to the less expensive ones.

Thanks
Brian

Cornerstone Guitars 09-07-2008 09:10 PM

Hey Brian,
there is no "Rosewood", in itself. Rosewood is merely a sub-species (Dalbergia) of which Indian Rosewood is a part of. There are many different Rosewoods....Indian,Brazilian,Amazon, Camatillo, etc.... to name a few.
But I do believe that majority of people refer to Indian Rosewood merely as "Rosewood".

mmmaak 09-07-2008 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by worshipguitar (Post 1598415)
Hey Brian,
there is no "Rosewood", in itself. Rosewood is merely a sub-species (Dalbergia) of which Indian Rosewood is a part of.

hmmm....isn't Dalbergia a genus?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia

Cornerstone Guitars 09-07-2008 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmmaak (Post 1598418)
hmmm....isn't Dalbergia a genus?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia

I guess you could say that! ;)

mmmaak 09-07-2008 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by worshipguitar (Post 1598424)
I guess you could say that! ;)

Hey, look at me! I'm smarter than a luthier :roll::roll::roll:

brianwong 09-07-2008 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by worshipguitar (Post 1598415)
Hey Brian,
there is no "Rosewood", in itself. Rosewood is merely a sub-species (Dalbergia) of which Indian Rosewood is a part of. There are many different Rosewoods....Indian,Brazilian,Amazon, Camatillo, etc.... to name a few.
But I do believe that majority of people refer to Indian Rosewood merely as "Rosewood".

Hi Peter,

In reference to all solid wood construction, I noticed on some cheaper guitars like the Yamahas/Corts that the sales told me it's just rosewood, it's reddish in colour whereas on my Mcpherson which says East Indian rosewood, it is more towards a dark brownish/purplish hue.

Somehow aethestically it's nicer. I'm wondering tonally the different grades of rosewood, how would that differ?

Brian

Cornerstone Guitars 09-07-2008 09:59 PM

I think the grade itself may not has as much of an impact on the tone as it may be more or less stable or visually less appealing.

soundwatts 09-07-2008 10:27 PM

East Indian VS Indian
 
is there any difference?

brianwong 09-07-2008 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundwatts (Post 1598455)
is there any difference?


Yea. I want to know the answer too. :)

66strummer 09-07-2008 10:48 PM

Generally "rosewood" is East Indian. It must be the most abundant, but I think there are different grades of it. The big question is usually whether a guitar is made from solid rosewood or laminate (rosewood over plywood). Solid rosewood is generally the preferred and those guitars cost significantly more..... Brazilian is supposedly the prefererred (among rosewood types) for sound qualities but most rare and by far most expensive, as far as I know anyways.....

runamuck 09-07-2008 11:11 PM

Depending on who you talk to, you will get different answers to your quesion.

Some will say there is a significant difference bewteen, say, Brazilian and East Indian rosewood and others will disagree.

But I can tell you with some confidence that various rosewoods common to guitar making will have a sound in common that distinguishes them from other woods such as mahogany and maple.

Hambone 09-08-2008 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianwong (Post 1598410)
Hi Everyone,

What's the answer to the above question tonally and aesthetically? I realised that the more expensive guitars uses Indian rosewood compared to the less expensive ones.

Thanks
Brian

If you're talking about high end Martins, Taylors etc vs low end imports you're likely talking about solid east Indian Rosewood (eir) versus eir laminates aka "rosewood".

Adds for the "big box" retailers will often say "rosewood back and sides" which is a dead giveaway for plywood. If it's solid eir they will always say so very plainly in the ad.

The laminates on lower end guitars could be a thin veneer of eir over a piece of luan plywood which explains the big difference in price. Bad plywood can have "voids", bad glues, etc all of which will negatively impact tone. Good multilayer sides are stable and with a decent solid wood top can be fine instruments.

brianwong 09-08-2008 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hambone (Post 1598523)
If you're talking about high end Martins, Taylors etc vs low end imports you're likely talking about solid east Indian Rosewood (eir) versus eir laminates aka "rosewood".

Adds for the "big box" retailers will often say "rosewood back and sides" which is a dead giveaway for plywood. If it's solid eir they will always say so very plainly in the ad.

The laminates on lower end guitars could be a thin veneer of eir over a piece of luan plywood which explains the big difference in price. Bad plywood can have "voids", bad glues, etc all of which will negatively impact tone. Good multilayer sides are stable and with a decent solid wood top can be fine instruments.

I'm actually comparing solid rosewood guitars not laminates, particularly the Yamahas/Corts high end ones vs the Taylors/Mcphersons ones.

Specs say solid rosewood for the Yamahas/Cort ones which is reddish in color not so nice looking vs the Taylor/Mcpherson ones which says East indian rosewood which is brownish/purplish in color much nicer.

Bill Cory 09-08-2008 08:30 AM

The labels "Indian Rosewood" and "East Indian Rosewood" both refer to the same wood. The word "East" was added by someone years ago to keep Americans from thinking it had something to do with Native Americans, sometimes called Indians because Columbus didn't know where the heck he was when he landed here. It doesn't mean that the rosewood is from "Eastern India."

jhchang 09-08-2008 11:00 AM

Rosewood = Indian Rosewood = East Indian Rosewood. There is no standard requirement for labeling. Different builders label in different ways.
Sometimes people are just too lazy to label them to the most detail; or they want to purposely leave some ambiguity and room for guessing.;)
No big deal! :D


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